Needle for making leis



Oct. 17', 1.95Q

R. T. YAMAMQTO NEEDLE FOR Emma LEIS Filed Nov. 21. 1949 'Fig.

Inventor Raymond 71 Yamamoto (am flaw Em Patented Oct. 17, L950 NEEDLE FOR MAKlNG LEIs Raymond T. Yamamoto, Honolulu, v

The presentinvention relates-to a certain new and improved garland making needle and has more particular reference'toa' special-type needle which is expressly adapted to "theart of expertly fashioning and making Hawaiian leis.

According to custom, the ordinary lei is essentially made up of such flowers as carnations, gardenias, plumerias, and other complemental blossoms commonly grown in Hawaii, all of the blossoms being strung and thus tied together on a cotton or equivalent thread. Heretofore, ordinary dressmakers or sewing needles have been used, and the needle is pressed through the stems of the blossoms and the latter are pressed from the needle onto the thread. Since the needle commonly used is rig d and comparatively short, a few blossoms pierced and accumulated thereon will load the needle. Therefore, considerable time and painstaking effort are involved in sending the needle through a small batch of blossoms and sanitation November 21, 194 S erialN0.i12 8,5C5 4 I 1 2 mins. (01. 223 1-102) r then sliding the latter onto the garland building thread and repeating such steps over andover until the given task is completed. There exists a long-felt need for an improved needle capable of speeding up the initial step of piercing and grouping the blossoms on the needle.

What with the problem long since recognized,

a partial solution to rapid and more economical lei making has been discovered. This involves voluntary abandonment of the short closed-eye needle in favor of a lengthy flexible needle with a special eye construction.

.=Territory of Hawaii 7 Figure 1; is anelevational view of 'a garland or th lei-making needleconstructed in accordance the principles of the present invention;

'Figuretz is' an enlargedfra gmentaryl view on, an exaggerated scale illustrating the precise for-- mation of the elongated open eye;

. Figure 3 is a view based on Figure 2, observing the structure with the needle turned ninety degrees in respect to that shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring nowto the drawing by distinguishing reference numerals and accompanying lead lines, the shank or body portion of the needle, which is an elongated wire of appropriate gage, is denoted by the numeral 6 and has a penetrating point 8 at its forward or leading end. At its rearward or trailing end it is provided with the aforementioned thread-attaching eye I0. The latter is of elongated form and includes an integral reach portion I2 and an opposed complemental reach portion I 4 which terminates short of the curvate surface or declivity l6 and defines the opening in the needle, said opening denoted at I8. The reach I4 is, in effect, a resili ent tang and it is semi-circular in cross-section and the crown of the convex-side 20 is disposed A prominent refinement which characterizes the needle and makes it distinct and possessed Therefore, it is the cardinal objective of the present contribution to the art to provide a long flexible wire having a needle-point at its lead ng end and an elongated open thread eye at its trailing end, the reach on the open side of said eye defining a tang whose free end expedites the step of threading the eye but, more particularly, lends itself to penetration of the stems of the blossoms as latter are fed and dislodged from the needle and transferred to the thread.

A further object is to so form and shape the tip of the terminal of the stated resilient tang that it is freely tractable and is obliquely cut or beveled relative to the long axis of the eye so that it will safely pilot and wend its way through the delicately fragile blossoms without of the capacity necessary to do the wanted job is the terminal or tip end of the attenuated tang. This may be designated as an oblique bevel 22, that is, a bevel which is at an angle which is approximately oblique to the long axis of the eye ID. Not only is a bevel present and spaced from the curvate intake it, but, as better shown in Figure 3. the surface is convexed. The degree of convexity is such that actually the surface is smooth and somewhat blunt to define what;

This has may be recognized as a piloting nose. been found to be capable of penetrating the stems of the delicate flowers with a requisite certainty and nicety and with potential injury reduced to a minimum.

The needle as herein shown and described has been found to be possessed of the needs and requirements of, nimble fingered lei makers, saves time and money and will enable them to do what is wanted with a minimum of energy and patience. y

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A garland needle for threading a string through the stems of selected blossoms and tying the blossoms together to make a Hawaiian lei, comprising a highly flexible relatively long wire needle of a length to permit a multiplicity of individual blossoms to be selectively strung, organized and grouped thereon so that they may be quickly and uninterruptedly transferred from the wire needle to a garland thread, said needle having a penetration point at'its leading end and an elongated open eye at its trailing end, saidopen eye embodying, as an essential component, a linearly straight resilient tang having a 4 freely tractable terminal, the tip of the terminal being obliquely beveled in respect to the long axis of the eye to safely pilot and wend its way through the stems of the delicately fragile blossoms without tearing or otherwise damaging the same.

2. The structure specified in claim 1 wherein said beveled tip is, in addition, convexly formed to provide a substantially blunt nose capable of penetrating the stems with a minimum of disruptive and damaging force.

RAYMOND T. YAMAMOTO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 411,136 Swem Sept. 17, 1889 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 595,068 France Sept. 25, 1925 

